Senior
Lanita Bartley (Jacksonville, Fla.) led the Gators in scoring for the
second straight game with 17 points and Florida earned a 70-56 victory over
Auburn Thursday evening at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

The
victory was the third consecutive for the Gators (16-8, 6-5 Southeastern
Conference), who used strong defense throughout and forced 22 Auburn turnovers
that led to 26 points. Florida was also able to get out in transition and score
13 fast-break points, compared to just two for the Tigers (11-14, 3-9 SEC).

The
Gators and Tigers exchange buckets for the majority of the first half, when
there were five lead changes and six tied scores, with the lead getting no
larger than five for either team.

With
Auburn holding a 29-27 lead with 2:26 remaining in the opening period, Florida
went on a 7-2 run to end the half and headed into the locker room with a 36-31
lead.

The
backcourt of Deana Allen (Houma, La.), Bartley and Jaterra
Bonds (Gainesville, Fla.) led the way for the Gators during the first 20
minutes, when the trio combined for 27 first-half points. Allen finished with
14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor in addition to three assists and
three steals in 23 minutes of action. Bonds tallied 12 points, converting
4-of-5 shots, with a team-high four assists, as the Gators dished 18 in the
game.

“Tonight
our guards took the torch and really set the tone – the way we played defense
the last two minutes of the first half really set the tone for the game,” UF
coach Amanda Butler said. “It was a very good win. I didn’t think that
we played our best, but I think it’s a good indication when you feel that way.
We did a good job of establishing ourselves in the paint with the dribble – and
that makes us tough to prepare for.”

Bonds
started that final spurt with an acrobatic layup and drew contact and Allen
followed with a steal on the other end of the floor and dished to Jordan
Jones (Suwanee, Ga.) for the layin and forced an Auburn timeout. Jennifer
George (Orlando, Fla.) then stole the ball from Parrisha Simmons and
Florida took advantage as Bonds nailed a three-pointer on another assist from
Allen and the Gators held a 43-29 lead with 1:04 remaining.

Blanche
Alverson, who finished with a game-high 19 points, converted a jumper to halt
Florida’s run, but Ndidi Madu (Antioch, Tenn.) found George under the
basket and completed the high-low game that ended the first half’s scoring.

The
Gators continued their momentum at the start of the second half by scoring the
first seven points and pushing their lead to 15 points, 43-31, with 18:04
remaining in the game.

“I
thought they took the momentum,” Auburn coach Nell Fortner said. “The last two
minutes of the first half really gave them momentum. Once they went on that
10-0 run we couldn’t really quite get back from it.”

Florida’s
defensive pressure kept the Tigers from converting a field goal for more than
three and a half minutes, a span that covered the end of the first half and
into the second. The Gators continued to get offensive contributions from every
position, as nine out of the 10 Gators who suited up scored and helped maintain
a double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest.

Auburn
cut Florida’s lead to 11 points with 12:06 remaining, but freshman Andrea
Vilaró Aragonés (Barcelona, Spain) answered with a three-pointer, before
Tiger rookie Hasina Muhammad sank a layup and kept the Gator lead at 12 points,
53-41, with 11:11 to play.

That’s
when Florida mounted a 10-4 spurt for a 63-45 advantage and took an 18-point
lead, its largest of the game, with 5:25 remaining and Auburn never recovered.

Jones
capped that final run with a free throw, marking her 900th career point at UF,
as her overall career total swelled to 1,319.

A
three-point basket from the wing by Allen with 1:25 remaining in the
game extended the lead to 68-51 and ended any hopes for an Auburn comeback.
With Bonds converting two free throws from the line with 45 seconds remaining
in the game, the Gators reached the 70-point mark for the fourth straight game.

George
collected a team-high eight rebounds, helping Florida to a 36-35 rebounding
edge. The Gators also shot a steady 44.8 percent (26-58) for the game,
including an 8-of-17 effort from the three-point arc.

Auburn
shot 48 percent (12-25) in the first half and finished with a 39.2 percent
clip.

The
Gators begin a two-game road trip that begins on Sunday, Feb. 12, when the team
travels to Columbia, S.C., to play the 24th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks
(18-6, 7-4 SEC), with tip-off scheduled for 5 p.m.

The
contest will air live on ESPN2, while streaming video on www.ESPN3.com. The radio broadcast can be heard
live in Gainesville on WBXY-FM 99.5 The Star and on 104.9-FM, as well as in
Jacksonville on AM930 WFXJ. That audio broadcast also can be heard live through
the internet at www.GatorZone.com, the
official website of the Florida Gators.

Game Notables

*After recording
one block tonight, Azania Stewart has blocked a shot in 23 consecutive games.
Stewart now has 190, third-best in school history

*With
three blocks against Auburn, Jennifer George increases her career total to 123
and moves into fifth place passing Gator All-American and U.S. Olympian
Tammy Jackson’s 121

*Lanita
Bartley, who scored a team-high 17 points, recorded her fourth straight
double-figure scoring game, the longest such streak of her career. Bartley now
has 11 double-digit scoring outputs this season and 21 in her career

*Bartley
has tied her career-high of three three-point field goals in three of the last
four games

*Deana
Allen’s 14 points marks her first double-figure scoring game since January 12th at
Georgia. Allen has eight games with 10 or more points this season

*After
scoring six points in the win over Auburn, Jordan Jones now has 900 total
points at UF and 1,319 points in her career

Post-Game
Quotes

Florida
Head Coach Amanda Butler

Opening
statement:

“It
was a very good win. I didn’t think that we played our best, but I think it’s a
good indication when you feel that way. We did a good job of establishing
ourselves in the paint with the dribble – and that makes us tough to prepare
for.

“Tonight
our guards took the torch and really set the tone – the way we played defense
the last two minutes of the first half really set the tone for the game.”

On
outscoring Auburn in the paint:

“Our
team just plays so hard all the time. It’s so rewarding to see a column like
that have a big number, because even with numbers don’t go our way effort is
something that shows how hard we work. We had great awareness of where each
other were, which I believe is an indication of the chemistry that we have on
our team.”

On
the team’s run at the end of the first half:

“I
think the way that we closed out the first half – that’s who we are, that’s how
we play. That is how it looks when we play our best. So I told the girls to start
the second half with the way we left the first, and they did just that.”

On
the seniors:

“There
is just a really keen sense of awareness amongst them, that no matter how great
of a motivator as a coach – that feeling in February as a senior – you just
know that this is your moment, this is it.

“Our
seniors are doing a great job of leading and showing how important each of
those moments are. Winning three games in a row comes from not only our urgency
in playing, but really from our urgency in preparing for the game. I think that
is distributed amongst everybody, especially our seniors.”

On
the three-game win streak:

“It’s
hard to say that it’s one thing. I would just credit the team with having a
great resilient spirit, and not allowing disappointment to get in the way of
everything. I think it is credited some to senior leadership, some to great
scouts by my assistant coaches and truly embracing how good we can be when we
play how we expect to play.”

On
looking further into the season:

“What
we see moving forward is that we play South Carolina next, and that’s it.
They’ve been proven to be one of the best teams in the conference. They’re
really good and they’ll be good on their home floor. We’ll go and try to be
better from when we played them the first time. It really doesn’t go beyond
Columbia, S.C. tonight.”

On
Jaterra Bonds:

“I
thought she picked her parts to attack. She was a big part of our guards
establishing themselves in the paint. She does a great job of absorbing the
game plan and learning from week-to-week. I think that she is really striving
to make better decisions because she knows how important that is for us.”

On
balanced scoring:

“We
all know each other so well in league play so you have ideas of how you’ll play
against certain teams. I think it makes it harder to scout Florida when you
don’t know who you will have to clue-in on.

“I
think if you had asked teams a month ago they would tell you that you can’t
give Jordan Jones the ball, in December they would tell you that you need to
guard Jennifer George and now it would probably be something about Lanita with
her consecutive double-figure scoring.”

Redshirt-Senior
Forward Ndidi Madu

On
the start of the second half:

“We
just knew that we had to start the second half better than the first half. We
had to start with a defensive end. We had to have intensity.”

On
how to continue the win-streak:

“We
can’t get comfortable, we have to keep wanting more. Tonight we had a lot of
turnovers, but we have to keep wanting to go more – to keep pushing forward.
When we go into practice tomorrow we have to keep playing hard.”

Senior
Guard Deana Allen

On
her senior season coming to an end:

“It’s
February, this is when you have to really buckle down. Everyone is putting in a
collective effort. When everybody feels good about themselves, we’re a feel
good team, and that is great for the Gators. When everyone is feeling confident
in their game – we feed off of that and it makes us better.”

Senior
Guard Lanita Bartley

On
scoring in double figures for the fourth consecutive game:

“My
teammates are sharing the ball, which never hurts. Everybody is confident in
me, and that helps a lot.”

Auburn
Head Coach Nell Fortner

Opening
Statement:

“I
thought Florida’s defense was really good tonight, they really took us out of a
lot of stuff offensively. They shot that three ball really well, that was tough
defend tonight.”

On
Florida’s run to close out the second half:

“I
thought they took the momentum. The last two minutes of the first half really
gave them momentum. Once they went on that 10-0 run we couldn’t really quite
get back from it.”

On
working against the press:

“The
Florida guards are really quick…the passes could have been better, there’s no
question.”

On
Florida’s three point shooting:

“They
hit ten of them against Ole Miss last week and they had eight tonight so
they’re feeling pretty good from three.”

On
the offense getting into a rhythm:

“They
did a good job on Camille (Glymph), not letting her touch the ball. Yea, we
never could find a rhythm…the guards are so quick. We couldn’t find a way to
get people the ball. So, it’s always better to just keep trying to attack the
basket.”

On
Florida pulling away in the second half:

“They
put the ball game away at that point; we just couldn’t guard them.”